Restlessness, theatre and curiosity

Vilde’s schoolyears in Tallinn, 1875-1882

When he was ten years old, Eedi was sent to school in Tallinn. He learned the first two years at the elementary school in Kentmanni Street and after that he became a pupil at the reputable Tallinn German Provincial School. He was an active and really sociable young man who soon became the core of a group with intellectual interests. Vilde lodged at his aunt’s. Mai Brunberg was the mother of writer Eduard Bornhöhe (Brunberg). During his school holidays back at home, he often entertained his family with stories about Tallinn. In the summer of 1887 he wrote a religious poem that he dedicated to his parents and this must have been his very first attempt on the writing career.

Eduard Vilde’s sister Auguste Landberg reminisced in 1946, “On school holidays we eagerly waited for Eedi to come home. Father went to meet him in Rakvere in a cart. It was a really long wait before they finally arrived. Eedi had written a short poem about his arrival and we sang it together.”

Vilde got into many a conflict with his teachers at this German-language school of totally German mentality. He was especially annoyed by the prevailing cult of the Nibelungenlied at school and started to fight it with introducing Kalevipoeg to his mates. This was the last drop in his relationship with the teachers. As he was reading a lot and loved theatre, he often neglected his schoolwork. When it became known that Eduard and his friends planned to escape to America, the board of the school recommended him to leave. And so he did, half a year before the final exams in 1882.